Electric battery.



WITN Es sEs PATEN'TED AUG. 7, 1906. I. KITSEE.'

ELECTRIC BATTERY.

AIPLIOATION FILED JUNE 12, 1901. RENEWED MAY 3, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEETL INVENTOR PATENTED AUG. '7, 1906. I. KITSEE.

ELECTRIC BATTERY. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 190;. RENEWED MAY 3, 190

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOR ISIDOR KlTSEE, OF FHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

stem-sic BATTERY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Au 7, 1906.

Anplioation filed Tune 12, 7.901. Renewed May 3. 1905- Serial 110.258593- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lsrnon Kirsnn, of the city and county of Philadelphia, @tate' of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new j and useful Improvements 1n Electric Batteries, (Case No. 130,) of which the following is a specification.

' My invention relates to an. improvement in electrodes for electric cells.

The object of my invention is to produce an electrode for electric cells, primary as well as secondary, adapted to produce the necessary depolarization. without any depolarizing material being present in the electrolyte or without any high oXid being present in the electrode itself:

The chemical. action due to the dissolving of the positive electrode in primary cells or due to the change from the metallic state to the state of a salt compound of the active material in secondary cells well understood, and it suliiices to say that the hydro gen liberated through the dissolving of the electrode or the change from the metallic state to'the salt compound of the active material tends to polarize the electrode of the opp site sign.

in primary cells depolarizing material material capable of giving out oxygenis therefore employed in conjunction with the electrolyte to counteract or neutralize the liberated hydrogen, and in secondary batteries the electrode is provided with a high oXid capable of combining with the hydrogen liberated soon as the same strikes the surface of said electrode.

It is the aim of my invention to dispense with the depolarizing material usually e1nployed in primary or secondary cells.

The action of platinum in bringing about the condensation of gases through contact action on its surface was taken advantage of in the earlier days of electrical science; but

on account of whatseemed to be unsunmountable difiiculties the practical appliestion was abandoned.

In another application, filed May 23, 1901, under Serial No. 61,646, I have described an electrode consisting of carbo'n, the interstices of which are lined with finely-divided platinum, and this my invention has more lspecial reference to electrodes provided Witi active material consisting of platinized charcoal or other finely-divided carbon.

Referring to the drawings, Fi ure 1 is a longitudinalsection of an electro e embody sistin' of platinized carbon. In igs. 5 and 6, B is the conductor properffiog which conductor, as saidv above, may consist .velop A. 7 ,7 In preparingithe electrode according to the. 1 construction of 1 the conductor [1s ing my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1: Fig. 3 is a partly -se'ctional and partly edge elevation of a box filled with the active material,,the conductor passing through the center of said box, "Fi 4 isa vertical section of a modifiction of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an elevational partially-fragmental view of a modification of my invention. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation through the electrode. I,

In Fig. 1, A is the support; Bjtl ie conductor; Z), the perforationsin'said conductor; 0, the active material, consisting of platinizefl carbon in the divided state. I

The support is preferably rroi'f c onducting and may consist of hard rubber or a like material; but Where it is desired to utilize the lower surface as well as the upper surface of the conductor the supportA shall consist of porous material-such, for instance, as is used in the usual porous cupsa'i'lillimndud tor consists of c'arbon, or, asraiiibbn is'easily broken and contact with same cannot readily be made, the conductor may consist, where the electrolyte is diluted acid, of lead, the surface of which is preferably oxidizedthat is, lead which was connected in an elect'ric cell to the positive pole of the charging-on cuit.

In Fig. 3, A'-A are the supports in the shape of two half-boxes held together by the band D. B is the conductor. In this figin o the conductor is not perforated and the support has to be of porous material. construction as shown in this figure'is, in some cases preferable to theconstruction of Fig. 1', for the reason that the active material is entirely inclosed and cannot easily be in- The 9c jured. The conductor may consist of; plati- 9'5 nurn or other suitable conducting material.

In Fig. 4', A is a porous cu the'manufacture ofwhich does not need 'rther explaelectric batteries. V conductor Bathe shape of which has to vary with the shape of the cup itselff'and'arouhd' this cup is packed the active material 0., conof carbon or other suitable metal. This conductor is provided with the 'perforationsb, the active material C, and the porous enplaced in the support in a manner so as not to e easily disturbed and, if it is necessary, fastened to said' support. On the conductor is ;.then placed the platinized charcoal, so that a this difficulty, conductor with an outer envelop.

thicknes:

, so that when expanding the same shall fill the holes of said conductor and shall cover the surface of the same to a of about one-sixteenth of an inch. In constructing the electrode as illustrated in Fig. 3 each half of the porous support is first filled with the active material. The con- 'ductor is then placed between the two halves, and these two halves are then clamped to gether or otherwise secured to each other With the aid of rubber bands. In making this electrode care shall be taken that the active material shall come in contact with the conductor, and it is preferred that the active material shall. be somewhat under pressure, in the liquid. it shall tightly press on said conductor. The electrode made according to Figs. 5 and 6 difiers in the mode of making entirely from the electrode described above. Instead of having the active material independent'from the conductor proper and instead of providing the active material with a carrier make use of the process of platinizing the carbon; but, as clearly set forth in another application, 'filed May 23, 1901, Serial No. 61 ,646, the great disadvantage of platinized carbon is that the finely -divided platinum on the surface of the same usually disintegrates and falls to the bottom of the same and that the least shaking of the cell results in the disintegration ol these particles. To overcome I have provided the platinized In my experiments I have found that the best results are obtained if this outer envelop consists of plaster-of-paris, and that this plaster-of-riaris protector shallinot fall from the conductonl provide the conductor'with perforations.

The best manner to provide the conductor with the plastereof-paris is asfollows: The edges of the conductor are provided with a rim of about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness, the conductor is laid on the flat surface and the plaster-of-paris poured on the upper surface of the same. After the plaster-ofparis has set the conductor is turned with the lower side upward, and this side is provided with the coating of plaster-of-paris in the same manner as the other side.

The platinizing of the carbon or other con du'ctor is best accomplished in the following ,manner: In a solution consisting of nitric and hydrochloric acid and dissolved platinum' the conductor is connected to the negative pole of the charging-circuit, and a plati num conductor is connected to the positive pole of the same. In a short time the surface of the conductor to be used as an electrode is covered with a film of finely-divided platinum-that is, platinum-black.

The above process may differ in so far that a chlorid salt is dissolved in diluted sulfuric acid to be used as the electrolyte.

I have described and illustrated the electrode in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 as to consist of three elements-a support, a conductor, and active material in the shape of finely-divided carbon platinized; but if only one surface of the conductor is to be used and space or weight is of no consequence then the conductor itself may be made in the shape of a the active material is contained in the tray formed of the conductor, and the conductor and support are therefore one.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An electrode for an electric cell consisting of the conductor proper, activeniatcrial in contact with said conductor, said active material consisting of platinized charcoal and means to keep said active material in contact with said conductor.

2. In an electrode fin an electric cell provided with active material coi'isisting of platinized charcoal, means to preserve the contact between said active material and a conductor, said means consisting of a non-conducting but porous material.

3. The combination to form an electrode for electric batteries, of a conductor, finelydivided platinum on the surface of said conductor, and an envelop of plaster-oi paris on the outer surface of said conductor.

4. The combination to form an electrode I for electric batteries, of a conductor provided with holes or perforations, finely-divided platinum on the surface of said conductor, and a plaster-of-paris coating on the outer surfaces of said finely divided platinum, the two surfaces of plaster-of-paris united through said holes or perforations.

I 5. An electrode for electric batteries consisting of a conductor, finely-divided'platinum on the surface of same, in combination witlran outer envelop of plaster-of-paris.

In testimony whereof I hereby sign my 11 ame, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 11th day of June, 1901.

ISIDOR KITSEE.

Witnesses: E. R. S'PILLEY, W B. Ernnineu.

tray and be its own support. In this casev 

